Artemis Fowl : Now or Never
by maddielizbeth
Summary: Artemis Fowl knew Richard Gilberts' was somehow getting fairy technology. But when he sees his old friend, Commander Holly Short, at Gilberts' party disguised as a human, he knows that Gilberts is up to no good. AH.


Twenty-three year-old Artemis Fowl strolled into his room, loosening his tie from his neck. Sitting on his chair, he placed his head in his hands and rubbed his temples. Another disappointing conclusion to a pitiful day.

He had woken up at seven-thirty in the morning and had an early start. Mulch Diggums and himself were currently tying to steal a painting from Richard Gilberts. Quite possibly richer than Artemis and also an ingenious man. Which is why Artemis wanted to steal the painting from underneath Mr. Gilberts so badly. His reputation was at stake, he couldn't have this Gilberts guy showing him up. But getting into Gilberts' multi-million dollar mansion was near impossible, even with Mulch's underground work. Artemis pondered at this Gilberts man's technology. It was astounding and surpassed his own, which was pretty advanced considering he had some help from Holly (and an unspectingLEP member)a few years ago. He had thought of contacting Commander Holly Short to inform her of this man's puzzling technological advances, but somewhat selfishly decided that if Gilberts was involved with someone or something underground, he would first find out what he was doing and who his contact was. Then he would smugly inform the Commander.

Commander. That's right. Holly Short was back in the LEP, much to Artemis' dislike. He did not like admitting it, but during their years working together he had taken quite the liking to her. Probably too much of liking and both of them knew it. He could still recall the day three years ago that she swept in through his window, her auburn hair a mess and her hazel eyes shooting daggers at him. Her words echoed in his empty room.

"You're not legit. You're not legit! You blackmailed a LEP officer into giving you fairy technology and continue to make illegail dealings."

"Holly, look. I needed the fairy technology. No harm was done, I wasn't going to hurt him. You know fairy technology is safe with me. And you know I still am involved in illegal dealings. You've known that for quite some time, Holly." His blue eyes met hers, somewhat softer. He knew she had known for quite sometime that his dealings were not all legit and he knew there must be a reason why she was bringing it up now. Even in his illegal dealings, he would always give most of the proceeds to charity, partly because of her and partly being of his conscience.

"Artemis… I know. But you're involved with people that are cold. The way you use to be. And this technology you possess… if it was to get into the wrong hands, it could be deadly for the People. You don't know who will undermine you, who will see the technology you are using and suspect something else, Artemis."

Artemis sighed. She was right. Richard Gilberts was an uprising "star", you could say, in the criminal world. Mr. Gilberts was quite smart and Artemis was already afraid that he had picked up on some of his fairy technology. There was no use in arguing with Holly about it.

"How did you know about the LEP officer?" he instead questioned. Holly was no longer in the LEP, so for her to find out about such an incident surprised him. Holly's good friend, Foaly, was not allowed to communicate with her anymore, orders from the asshole Commander Sool. This didn't stop Foaly, of course, but this limited there conversation quite some bit. Artemis doubted Foaly would tell Holly of such a small occurrence.

"Sool got canned. The Council realized what a worthless Commander he was. He was hurting the LEP." she said quietly. Artemis had suspected that someday this would happen and once again Holly would rejoin the LEP. With Holly in the LEP, their regular communication would have to come to an end.

"So… you've rejoined the LEP." Artemis stated the obvious, losing his composure slightly and his voice wavering. This always happened around Holly for some reason.

"The Council has seen the work that I've been doing lately and they realized my dedication to the People. Not only did they ask me back, but they asked me to be the new Commander."

His eyes flashed towards hers. He couldn't explain what happened next. Her arms around him, her tears slowly falling from her beautiful face. All he could do was close his eyes and gently place his hand on her back. "You're beautiful, even when you're crying." he whispered.

"It's for the best, really. We both know it is." He didn't disagree. Despite their attraction to each other, there were too many obstacles. First, their size difference, which quite obviously would be quite the problem. Then the fact that they were from two different worlds. But now, with her as the Commander, and he being the sworn enemy of the People, their communication had to come to a complete and utter end.

"I can count on you, can I not? Gods, I hope there isn't a dire situation again. But if there is… I can trust you?"

"You can always trust me, Holly." he kissed her softly on the cheek and rose to his desk. She stood up and tidied herself up. "Have a safe trip back, Commander Short."

"Thank you, Fowl."

That night, he'd put his head in his hands, just as he was doing now. Of course, now it was for a lot different of a reason. First, the fact that he was having trouble getting access to Gilberts' was quite troublesome. But, on top of that, he had just got back from suffering through another exhausting night with a bimbo girl who meant nothing to him. He had thought about taking her home, but could not bring himself to do it. It was tempting, but he could not bring himself to bring a woman home that did not meet his standards. The only woman that would ever share his bed would be one that could match his intellect and had a softer side. He had many female contacts that were extremely intelligent and good looking, but their shrewd tactics completely turned him off for some reason.

"ARTY!" Juliet screamed, bursting into the room.

"Juliet, what have I told you? Do not burst into my room without knocking. What if I had been having company over?" Juliet laughed.

"The day you bring one of your dates home will be the day the world ends. Although, you really should sometime Arty. It's not so bad having somebody to share things with." Juliet toyed with the ring on her left hand, smiling.

"Stop toying with your ring, Juliet. We all know you're engaged. You've told us more times then I can recall. So please, just tell me what is so urgent that you needed to walk into my room without knocking?" Artemis was sick of her prancing around. Juliet just giggled, sighed, then handed an envelope to Artemis.

"I've already checked it. It's harmless. Look what's inside!"

"An invitation? An invitation to Robert Gilberts party?"

"Yes, it seems so. I suppose criminal masterminds have parties now? What do you all do there?" A smile formed on Artemis lips. Perfect. Most criminal masterminds did have parties, to show off their winnings. Artemis usually did not go to such things, but perhaps being in the house of Gilberts would shed some light to what the man was up to.

"Please inform Mr. Gilberts that I will be attending." Artemis said, with his classic vampire smile.

Author's Note: This is my very first try at fanfiction, so please review:) I'm sure there's some errors in here, so criticism is welcome. Let me know if you think I should keep going with this story. Thanks!


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